Hoiho protection ‘pretty much puts us out of business’: fisherman

A Dunedin fisherman fears he will be put out of business and the whole city could be impacted by a permanent ban on set-net fishing. But the move has been praised by the city’s Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust Te Tautiaki Hoiho, which hopes it will curb the decline of the taonga species. Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced on Tuesday that a temporary emergency ban of set-net fishing in a high-risk area around the Otago Peninsula to protect hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) would become permanent. Hoiho are a taonga species and the northern population that lived on the lower South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura is nationally endangered. Mr Jones also announced the establishment of a “fishing-related mortality limit” and set the accidental capture limit for the northern hoiho population at four a year. Anderson Fishing Company owner Brock Anderson said the ban had made it really hard to earn a living. The company had lost up to 80% of its fishing grounds over the past year and its catch had dropped 60%, Mr Anderson said. “At the end of the day, it pretty much puts us out of business.” The ban had taken out “the best fishing ground” and you could not simply go and fish elsewhere. “Everyone has this vision of the ocean as just there’s fish everywhere and you can go anywhere, but it’s not the case. “There’s places where the fish live, its habitats and its migration. “If you’re not in those spots, you can be a mile away from one spot and a big catch.” That meant costs also rose as fishers travelled further in search of catch. Making the ban permanent could cost people jobs at fish factories and “affect Dunedin as a whole”, Mr Anderson said. He believed with the various threats hoiho face, mainland extinction was inevitable. Conservation should instead be focused on relocating them to more suitable environments, Mr Anderson said. Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust general manager Norcombe Barker said the news was “fantastic” and would hopefully mean a decrease in the decline of the hoiho. “Functional extinction could be only a few years away for the hoiho, even with these measures,” Mr Barker said. “More still needs to be done to give the penguins a chance.” The trust had submitted the accidental capture limit should be zero. Hoiho faced “a very uphill battle to survive” and, without human interjection every year supporting the hatching, they would already be functionally extinct off the mainland, Mr Barker said. “We appreciate that fisheries have their economic agenda, but with every death of a hoiho, it is devastating to an already endangered species.” Port Chalmers Fishermen’s Co-operative Society president Ant Smith said the group agreed to the original ban and accepted making it permanent was the way forward to protect hoiho. It supported the ban around Cape Saunders, but was disappointed it continued to Blueskin Bay. “As far as the high-risk area is concerned, we totally support it,” Mr Smith said. “The only disagreement we have as local fishermen is they included some low-risk areas in that ban, which we don’t support.” Mr Jones said fisheries bycatch was not the main reason the northern population was in a precarious state. “The major risks to hoiho are disease, predation, and starvation, but implementing these long-term measures to reduce the risk of fisheries bycatch will help.” The accidental capture limit was not a target — “it is a bottom line”, Mr Jones said. “It will further incentivise fishers to do everything possible to prevent hoiho bycatch, as I will put further restrictions on fishing in the area in place to ensure this limit is not exceeded.” The measures come into force on September 16. tim.scott@odt.co.nz

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